Building Codes and Standards

IHS Authority Having Jurisdiction

The IHS Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) is the Agency official responsible for code interpretation, enforcement, and implementation. The Director, OEHE, has designated the Director, DES, as the AHJ for IHS responsible for issuing all written interpretations of codes, standards, design criteria, and technical guidelines. As part of these responsibilities, the Director, DES is also responsible for evaluating and making determinations on all equivalencies, variances, and waivers that are final and binding for IHS. To assist the AHJ in this role, the IHS Codes Committee was established to review requests for interpretations of codes, standards, design criteria, and technical guidelines and to develop interpretations for review, concurrence, and issuance by the AHJ. The IHS AHJ and Codes Committee guidance may be found in the OEHE Technical Handbook.